South Carolina Baseball: Gamecocks land two on All-SEC teams

Junior Wes Clarke of the University of South Carolina baseball team was named to the All-Southeastern Conference second team while freshman Will Sanders was selected to the SEC's All-Freshman Team, the conference office announced this afternoon.

Clarke, who leads the nation with 21 home runs heading into this week, is South Carolina's first all-conference selection since Gene Cone and Clarke Schmidt were named to the second team in 2016. Clarke is hitting .274 with 52 runs scored, eight doubles, 52 RBI and 48 walks this season and is a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy.

Clarke had a pair of home runs in a win over Clemson on Feb. 28 and had three home runs in a midweek win over Winthrop on Feb. 23. He was the SEC Co-Player of the Week on Feb. 23 and March 1 and was the Player of the Month of February by the NCBWA.

Sanders was named to the All-Freshman team, becoming the second straight Gamecock pitcher to earn that honor after Brett Kerry did in 2019.

The Atlanta, Ga., native is 6-3 with a 3.63 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 52 innings pitched compared to just 11 walks. Sanders pitched eight innings, striking out four in a win over Georgia on April 4 and did not allow a run in six innings of work in a win at LSU on April 17. Sanders had a career high 10 strikeouts in five innings in a win over The Citadel on March 23.

He was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on March 1 after back-to-back wins over Clemson (Feb. 27 and 28) and the Co-Freshman of the Week on April 5.

In other specialty awards, Mississippi State's Tanner Allen was named Player of the Year, while Arkansas' Kevin Kopps earned Pitcher of the Year honors and Jack Leiter of Vanderbilt was named the Newcomer of the Year.

Vanderbilt's Enrique Bradfield Jr., was named the Freshman of the Year, Arkansas' Dave Van Horn earned Coach of the Year and Ole Miss' Tim Elko was the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Carolina is the seventh seed in the SEC Tournament and will face 10th-seeded Alabama on Tuesday afternoon (May 25) at approximately 2 p.m. Eastern time at the Hoover Met in Hoover, Ala.

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